{"id":27414,"date":"2021-09-06T14:15:14","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T14:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=23512"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:14:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:14:30","slug":"philanthropist-simon-collins-i-realised-i-could-make-a-difference-by-applying-things-i-can-do-to-things-i-couldnt-in-a-million-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/philanthropist-simon-collins-i-realised-i-could-make-a-difference-by-applying-things-i-can-do-to-things-i-couldnt-in-a-million-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Philanthropist Simon Collins: \u201cI realised I could make a difference by applying things I can do to things I couldn\u2019t in a million years\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Simon Collins, businessman, philanthropist and former chair of KPMG UK, has been making connections in the City for almost four decades. Now, as chair of our philanthropic giving circle the Catalyst Club, which turns 10 this year, he\u2019s making connections of a different kind. Here, he tells us why he\u2019s so passionate about uniting people who want to use their wealth to help \u201ccrack cancer\u201d with the researchers doing the cracking.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

What was it about the opportunity to chair the Catalyst Club that spoke to you?<\/h2>\n

I felt empowered learning about the scale of Cancer Research UK\u2019s ambition and what can be achieved when you partner philanthropy with science. But I was surprised to learn that just over a third of the charity\u2019s income comes from legacies and the average monthly gift is under \u00a310. That got me excited about the potential to grow philanthropic income by connecting people who could give a substantial gift with the people who will really know what to do with it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your vision for the Club as it moves into its second decade?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019d like to start building a broader, deeper base of supporters who are evangelical about the cause, want to commit long-term and can find other like-minded people to help raise both the short-term funding capability and the long-term sustainable funding needed to make real progress. I want us to engage people at the beginning of their philanthropic journey, inspire them to give regularly and help them see the huge impact they can have in leveraging life-saving science.<\/p>\n

Are there any areas of our research portfolio that you\u2019re particularly excited to see evolve?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m delighted Cancer Research UK is tackling hard-to-treat cancers \u2013 lung, brain, pancreatic and oesophageal \u2013 because they\u2019ve historically seen less investment and poorer patient outcomes. Another massive motivation for me is cultivating future scientific leaders. I\u2019ve yet to meet a philanthropist who isn\u2019t interested in supporting young talent. Who knows? You could be helping to develop the next Nobel Prize winner. I\u2019m also interested in the interconnectivity between researchers and clinicians in translating today\u2019s discovery science into tangible patient outcomes. That\u2019s something Cancer Research UK does really well and I\u2019m excited to see more.<\/p>\n

Has the pandemic changed how you feel about supporting biomedical research organisations like ours?<\/h2>\n

The huge backlog in cancer diagnosis and treatment has brought into focus the vital need to keep improving in these areas. I hope the pandemic prompts a wave of support for biomedical research charities. We\u2019ve seen how dangerous it can be to take our eye off the ball, and Cancer Research UK has done an incredible job of resetting cancer as the urgent issue it is on behalf of people facing the disease.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a role for those of us who could never crack cancer, no matter how much resource we had, to be supporting partners. That\u2019s the inspiring thing about philanthropy\u201d \u2013 Simon Collins<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What does philanthropy mean to you?<\/h2>\n

When I reflected on the wider purpose of life, I questioned what I could do to give back. I realised I could make a difference by applying things I can do<\/em> to things that I couldn\u2019t in a million years<\/em>. We don\u2019t want brilliant scientists fundraising. We want them to focus on cracking cancer. So, there\u2019s a role for the rest of us who could never crack cancer, no matter how much time or money we had, to be humble supporting partners. For me, that\u2019s the inspiring thing about philanthropy.<\/p>\n

What would you say to anyone interested in joining the Catalyst Club?<\/h2>\n

You can directly save lives, you can improve clinical research in this country and worldwide, and you can help defeat cancer. That\u2019s not hyperbole. Cancer Research UK mobilises the best minds, and the only thing standing in the way is funding. I\u2019d say to anyone who cares about beating cancer that it\u2019s possible to make a direct, lasting impact, either personally or through your network. Nobody should underestimate their ability to make a difference.<\/p>\n

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The Catalyst Club: A decade of impact<\/h2>\n

2011<\/em>
Established<\/strong>
We establish the Catalyst Club, appointing a board and welcoming its founding members. We set an ambitious \u00a310m fundraising target to back innovation in the promising field of personalised medicine.<\/p>\n

TRACERx
<\/strong> Some of the Club\u2019s first donations help to seed fund the ambitious new project TRACERx. The world\u2019s first large-scale study of in vitro<\/em> lung cancer evolution, it aims to expose cancer\u2019s evolutionary mechanisms to improve diagnosis, better tailor therapies and predict and prevent recurrence.<\/p>\n

Cytosponge development<\/strong>
Donations also support the development of the Cytosponge \u2013 a novel early detection device and antibody test for Barrett\u2019s oesophagus, a common precursor to oesophageal cancer.<\/p>\n

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2016
<\/em> \u00a310m raised<\/strong>
We reach \u00a310m thanks to the huge generosity of our founding members. Not only does this allow our researchers to accelerate their projects, it also unlocks a further \u00a320m in funding from the Government\u2019s Technology Strategy Board (now called Innovate UK) and the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries.<\/p>\n

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2017<\/em>
Refocus<\/strong>
We refocus fundraising efforts on early detection, personalised medicine and hard-to-treat cancers, as well as the Cancer Research UK Future Leaders programme, which fosters outstanding research talent.<\/p>\n

Growth<\/strong>
The Club continues to grow as members host networking events and introduce us to their contacts.<\/p>\n

\n

2018<\/em>
New chair<\/strong>
We appoint Simon Collins as chair and recruit new board members.<\/p>\n

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2020<\/em>
Global attention<\/strong>
TRACERx draws global attention when its researchers publish eight exciting papers in the journal, Nature<\/em>. Among the findings are clues revealing how tumours evade the immune system and how to predict whose lung cancer will return after surgery by detecting tumour DNA in blood.<\/p>\n

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2021<\/em>
Cytosponge release<\/strong>
The Cytosponge enters clinical practice, offering GPs an efficient, non-invasive way to monitor people with Barrett\u2019s oesophagus \u2013 a common precursor to oesophageal cancer.<\/p>\n

New fields, new opportunities
<\/strong> The Club enters its second decade with even greater philanthropic aspirations. We look to new fields, including the life sciences industry, to expand our membership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon Collins, businessman, philanthropist and former chair of KPMG UK, has been making connections in the City for almost four decades. Now, as chair of our philanthropic giving circle the Catalyst Club, which turns 10 this year, he\u2019s making connections of a different kind. Here, he tells us why he\u2019s so passionate about uniting people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45184,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27414\/revisions\/45184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}